Our nation's capitol - day 3

We didn't really plan to do so much on our 3rd day, but it turned into our longest, most cram packed day of the trip! We hit the street at 9:00am and didn't get back to our hotel until 7:30pm! We walked, according to my FitBit, 10+ miles. Whoa!

So, we went to the üUS Capitol. Pretty awesome. They're doing some refurbishing so we didn't get to see the rotunda :-(  But we got to see the original Supreme Court, where Thomas Jefferson was sworn in! I love the past.

Then we went to the US Library of Congress. The largest repository of knowledge IN THE WORLD. OMG!!! I think it was my favorite building of them all. It was also the first 'electrified' building in DC. It was gorgeous! You just have to see it. Every corner of every room is magnificent!

And on display, they have the very first bible ever "printed"...

...as well as this hand written bible!

It was really something.

Next stop, the US Botanic Garden and Conservatory - I've never been to a conservatory!

I like bark. I don't know why. Oh wait, yes I do...it's cool! 

look at how cute this one is....thorns and hearts!

This display was great...who knew that the roots to some things were soooooooo long!!!!

OK - onward! This is going to be the longest post in the history of IndyScooterGirl.

On our way to the National Archives building, it was kind of weird. There are so many people from all over the world, in DC, that for a second it didn't even feel like you were in America. I've never heard so many different languages and seen so many different kinds of people.

OK, the National Archives. No photos here. Not allowed. And it's dark. And you probably don't know this but, The Declaration of Independence, which gave me goose bumps to see, is barely visible. You can hardly see the J in John Hancock. It's soooooo faded. It made me kind of sad. and happy that I've gotten to see it while you still can. 

Then we decided, what the hell, it's a beautiful day and it's only about a mile or so, let's walk down to the Lincoln Memorial!

I know Bill said before we went that he didn't care about seeing any of the memorials, but 

I'm pretty sure he's glad he did.

It's impressive for sure!

                                            

 And the view is fantastic!

We passed this place on our walk;

And the Vietnam War Memorial;

Put yourself there. Look at those people standing in front of the wall. Look at how long that wall is. Imagine allllll those names. Tragic.

The Korean War Memorial;

The World War II Memorial;

I think that covers our last day. It was an amazing journey, walking through so much history. If you've never been, it should be on your bucket list. I promise, you'll feel things you never have before!

Our nations capitol, day 2 finale

After hours and hours of museums, you would think were done. Nope. Well, sorta. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in the Hirshhorn Museum. What the hell is that? Well, it's a super cool building...

filled with stupid crap like this;

We walked around one floor and left. I know some people are passionate about modern art, but I just don't get it. 

How is this art!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Boooooo.

OK, last stop of the day, the Smithsonian Castle! 

You don't get to walk around the whole place, but the parts we wandered into were awesome!

We did a lot of walking on Friday and we've been to 5 museums so far but our last day was the best for sure!

Our nation's capitol, day 2 cont...

Next up was the National Museum of American History.

Look! A piece of Plymouth rock!!

Bill loved this sculpture. He said Washington was absolutely a warrior!

this is just a vault door, like you would find somewhere there were priceless things to guard. 

 Bill said he liked this museum a lot more than he thought he would. He really loved all the mechanical displays of steam engines and how they progressed. It was interesting if you're a gear head.

For me, this was the most interesting room/display. This room is filled with 'snapshots' of American history. Look at the people in this era - Rockefeller, Carnegie, JP Morgan, Edison, Twain, Geronimo, Booker T Washington. These people contributed SO MUCH to our culture and way of life!!

Now look at the 2nd group. I was so interested in all of these - I looked at each one. They included, Ford, the Wright brothers, Susan B. Anthony, Marcus Garvey, Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart.

Then we got to the last group. Go ahead, look at the faces. Tell me what you see? Madonna? Harvey Fierstein? James Taylor? Shaun White? Michael Jordan? Kennedy, Obama, Warhol. Not to take anything away from their talents, but...aside from maybe a half dozen people, I see celebrities, athletes and politicians. Think about that for a second. It's depressing. Americans changed the WORLD. Now? Humph.

Anyway, it really was interesting, American history. The things we've accomplished and achieved and invented and created. 

Our nation's capitol, cont....

OK, now that I can get back to my regularly scheduled life, here is day 2 of our whirlwind trip to DC!

Day 2 was a Friday and we picked the Museum of Natural History and American History. I read that they are very popular destinations so I didn't want to go to them on a weekend.

When you walk into the natural history museum, you're greeted by this!
(remember, you can click on the picture to make them larger)

Pretty cool. Honestly, I had no idea how BIG they got.
There are a lot of stuffed animals in this place;

I love that they 'pose' all of them.

There are a lot of bones here too;

My mom would have loved this section on human origins.

This is "Toumai" about 6-7 MILLION years old. Whoa!

.

And there are a lot of rocks/gems/minerals;

 This was mined in Hot Springs Arkansas

 all of these glow in the dark!

 Then of course, there's the Hope Diamond. I don't know, I was expecting more. It didn't really seem like a big deal to me.

 I love turquoise!

to be continued...

whew!

So, my guy finally had surgery on his first messed up foot.

See how there is hardly any space between those joints?

That's because there isn't any cartilage left! Ewww. So, besides the bone spurs on the tops of his toes, the bones are just rubbing together all the time. Ya know, it's funny to me with all this technology and medical advancements, that they haven't found anything to replace cartilage? Anyway...

Here is the after picture!

The first few days were pretty rough - not on my guy. He got some crazy nerve block that didn't wear off for 3 days. No, the first few days were rough on ME! Geez! And crutches were just NOT going to work for him. Thank heavens for these!!

It's called a knee scooter. Uh huh. It's awesome! This made him oh so happy :-) Which was nice for me too.

Today was even better...he got his stitches out. Ahhhhh. Now his foot can be free again! Yes, it was a problem. I didn't know people got foot claustrophobia! Lordy.

Our nation's capitol

Well, our 3 days in Washington DC was pretty amazing! It's so different as an adult than a kid. You appreciate things so much more and history has more meaning to you. I loved it all!

Everything about the trip worked out perfectly! First, there was our flight. On time and not even 1/2 full!! When we arrived at our hotel to check our luggage, because it only 9:00am and we couldn't check in until 3:00, they had a room ready so they let us check in! Awesome! 

Our first stop was the National Museum of Air and Space. 
THIS was ON THE MOON! How cool is that??!!?
(remember, you can click on the pictures to see them larger)

And that history about the first airline flights? Ewwww. 

so much nicer to fly now :-)

Bill really loved seeing all the advances in air travel and some of the old planes. Look! There he is with Wright Brothers!

After a few hours here, we headed over to the National Gallery of Art. Uh huh...I LOVED it!

Van Gogh, Rembrant, Monet, Renoir, Da Vinci, Picasso, Raphael. OMG it was unbelievable! I got in trouble once though, for being "too close". Pshh.

This was one of my favorites. The artist was William Trost Richards and it was painted in 1863. 

It was a really beautiful gallery;

Yep, it was fantastic! 

No, no it's not normal...

Look at the difference between a normal foot and a NOT normal foot;

See that one on the left? That's mine. That ugly other foot? That belongs to my guy. See how wonky his toes are? Ewwww. 

Well all of that is about to change! This coming Friday, he's finally having surgery on his foot to fix all that. Because he doesn't have any cartilage left in the joint of his big toe, they are going to fuse it to his foot bone. That means they're going to bend it up and screw a plate underneath, to his toe and foot bone. So it'll be stuck in one position permanently. I don't know. That seems so weird. But hey, at least he won't be in pain alllll the time! Crutches for 4 weeks. 

It's going to be a challenging month for both of us.   :-\

Call me old fashioned...

...but this is just SO effing STUPID! Come on, are you kidding me??

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/08/30/university-tennessee-gender-neutral-pronouns/71416632/

I feel like I have a lot to say about this but it's so dumb I just don't want to say anything about it!